I am a minister, photographer, retreat leader, author and Quaker -- albeit one who's not always good at being a good Quaker. I am the author of "Awaken Your Senses," "Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality," "Mind the Light: Learning to See with Spiritual Eyes" and "Sacred Compass: The Path of Spiritual Discernment" (foreword by Richard Foster).
This blog is a compendium of writing, photography, seriousness and silliness -- depending on my mood.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Most of my life was spentbuilding a bridge out over the seabut the
sea was too wide and it didn'tgo anyplace. I'm proud of the
bridgehanging in the pure sea air. Machadocame for a visit and we sat on
the end of the bridge which was his idea.Now that I'm old the work goes
slowlybut the material keeps coming as I hanghere in the air. Ever
nearer death I likeit out here high above the sea bundledup for the
arctic storms of late fall,the resounding crash and moan of the sea,the
hundred foot depth of the green troughs.Sometimes the sea roars and howls
likethe animal it is, a continent wide and alive.What beauty in this the
darkest musicwhich imitates the sky's thunderover which you can hear the
lightest music of humanbehavior, the tender connection between men and
galaxies.So I sit on the edge, wagging my feet abovethe abyss, the fatal
plummet. Tonight the moonwill be in my lap. This is my job, to studythe
universe from my bridge. I have the sky, the sea,the faint green streak of
Canadian forest on the far shore.

In this time of darkness following the senseless slaughter of the innocents in Sandy Hook (and other children whose bodies are ripped apart by war and disease and hunger around the world), I am grateful that Love still takes the risk of birth. Let us all, especially those of us who endeavor to follow the Prince of Peace risk loving and working for peace. Let us incarnate the almighty Love and Light of God in a world seemingly filled with hatred and darkness. May the God of Love and Light bless us -- the broken-hearted, the down-trodden, the safe in our cozy homes -- everyone.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

"The crowded bus, the long queue, the railway platform, the traffic
jam, the neighbor's television sets, the heavy-footed people on the floor above
you, the person who still keeps getting the wrong number on your phone. These
are the real conditions of your desert. Do not allow yourself to be irritated.
Do not try to escape. Do not postpone your prayer. Kneel down. Enter that
disturbed solitude. Let your silence be spoiled by those sounds. It is the
beginning of your desert."

"While we have been working on a new (the innocence mission)
record, we've also enjoyed making recordings of a group of songs that seemed to
belong together on a separate album. They were all written on piano. Some have
words and are sung. I guess that's a bit redundant, unless we consider the
possibility that they could have been rap songs. Well, anyway, about half the
songs are sung, with piano and with beautiful guitar parts from Don. And the
other half are piano, or piano and pump organ, and some other instruments. My
instruments are all fairly old and NOISY, so Don gets a special award for most
patient and excellent engineer. He worked so meticulously to record my old
spinet and little field (pump) organ. The accordion was the funny last straw,
it's started to sound like a giant bowl of rice crispies, so it is having a
small rest. I'm thrilled that our children have added wonderful violin and viola
parts to two of the songs. So I've had tremendous help with this record, which
is called Violet, and it really has been a joy to make" .-Karen

Though it's hard to believe, there are less than three weeks left until Christmas. And, like me, you may be searching for the perfect present. How about giving a book? And I'm happy to help you in that regard.

From now until December 20th, if you order one of the books below directly from me, I'll throw in:

Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God -- In Awaken Your Senses, co-author Beth Booram and and I invite you to engage your right brain in your faith through sensory spiritual practices that position your heart for divine encounter. $15.

Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality -- For centuries, Quakers have taught that when we are silent, God grants us
insights, guidance, and spiritual understanding that is different from what we
might realize in our noisy, everyday lives. This book invites you to
discover this and other unique gifts of the Quaker way. $15.

Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment -- Sacred Compass offers a fresh and deeper way of living a God-directed life by drawing on the quiet beauty of the Quaker path to show how spiritual
discernment is more about sensing God’s gracious presence than it is about
making the right decisions. $14

Imagination and Spirit: A Contemporary Quaker Reader -- The influence of the Quakers
have far exceeded their perennially small membership, especially in terms of the
written word. Here's a sampling that graciously introduces Quaker faith to Friends and non-Friends
alike. $19.

If you order multiple copies of the same title, there's the amazing "Holiday Multiple Copy Super Discount" available.

Other of my books (classics?), such as "Stay Tuned," "Cruisin' and Choosin'", are available in limited quantities at exhorbitant rare volume prices.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Remembered Light

by Clark Ashton Smith

The years are a falling of
snow,Slow, but without cessation,On hills and
mountains and flowers and worlds that were;But snow and the
crawling night in which it fellMay be washed away in one
swifter hour of flame.Thus it was that some slant of
sunsetIn the chasms of piled cloud--Transient
mountains that made a new horizon,Uplifting the west to
fantastic pinnacles-Smote warm in a buried realm of the
spirit,Till the snows of forgetfulness were
gone.

Clear in the vistas of memory,The
peaks of a world long unremembered,Soared further than clouds,
but fell not,Based on hills that shook not nor
meltedWith that burden enormous, hardly to be
believed.Rent with stupendous chasms,Full of
an umber twilight,I beheld that larger
world.

Bright was the twilight, sharp like ethereal
wineAbove, but low in the clefts it
thickened,Dull as with duskier tincture.

About Me

I'm a Quaker who's just not very good at being a good Quaker -- I'm not always who aren't always peaceable, humble, kind, loving, truthful like someone who is a Friend should be. I'm also an author, minister, retreat leader, and photographer and I live in rural Indiana.